


What Happened Last Night?

by KingsHighway



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Drinking, Established Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Established Yamaguchi Tadashi/Tsukishima Kei, Minor Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Minor Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Minor Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Minor Tendou Satori/Ushijima Wakatoshi, Party, Underage Drinking, all characters tagged get used at some point
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:55:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29527413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingsHighway/pseuds/KingsHighway
Summary: The Karasuno team has a wild party, alcohol a benefit of Tanaka's wild older sister, Saeko. However, the next morning the team is left with a lot of questions, and fragments of memories that can't really be trusted. Who did Daichi take home with him? And why is Tanaka furious at Tsukishima? Supposedly Noya asked out Asahi on a date, but Asahi doesn't have a memory of that, and everyone, despite Hinata's best attempts to convince them otherwise, are convinced that he's in love with Nekoma's setter, Kenma. Conflicting records of the event and varying motivations for keeping secrets abound, the team tries to unravel the events before too many false rumours get out of hand.
Relationships: Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 18
Kudos: 99





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Quick Note: I'm new to Ao3 and am not familiar with the formatting. I'd like to make it formally known that I too hate the way this looks. I'll continue trying to work out the kinks as I go and make it prettier. Thanks for your patience, I hope you enjoy anyway!

Shoyo Hinata has never had a hangover before, and though he'd bravely leapt into the offered alcohol like he does everything else, this was one thing that he was learning was not able to be tackled by sheer willpower and determination.  
His head was splitting open, and he was late to volleyball practice for the first time in his life. Seven am suddenly seemed absolutely too early for a 30 minute uphill bike ride. It was damn near impossible for him to get out of bed at all, actually.  
Approaching the doors of their practice gym, he lifted his eyes to see Kageyama approaching from the opposite direction. He had memories, just flashes, of them doing the same thing every morning, and bursting to life and sprinting off, perpetually caught up in beating the other in every tiny detail.  
Hinata tried. He tried, he really did. He took a few faster steps then gave up with a groan, and the two boys shuffled side by side into the gymnasium with mutually pained groans.  
"You're here," Tanaka called, catching the volleyball he was bouncing to look over to them. "I was starting to think you two had died or something."  
"Not yet," Hinata said. "Maybe later."  
"Hah! Well, whatever you decide, make sure you're not late again, okay?"  
Hinata tried to laugh with him, but his headache was killing him and he just didn't have the energy. He managed to drag his eyes around the gym, and noticed that he really wasn't the only one with an obvious hangover.  
Tsukishima looked alright, though Hinata couldn't remember if he'd even seen the other boy drinking at all the night before. (Hinata, actually, couldn't remember anything at all, but he'd worry about that later.)  
Yamaguchi beside him looked whatever the opposite of alright was. He was literally swaying on his feet, eyes glassy, and holding a volleyball as if perhaps, maybe, if he looked like he was about to hit a ball, he'd get away without ever moving during practice.  
Daichi looked good, which wasn't a surprise. He was talking with Takeda, and Suga was sitting on a bench pretending like he wasn't listening to the conversation as he waited.  
"Well at least we're not the last ones," Kageyama muttered, rubbing a hand over his eye as he trudged off to set his water bottle by the bench.  
"Huh?"  
"Asahi, you idiot," Kageyama replied, prompting Hinata to take another look around. Sure enough, although Noya was bouncing a ball over and over again on his forearms, a happy, almost childish excitement in his eyes, the much taller ace was nowhere to be seen.  
"That's weird," Hinata said. "I don't think he's ever been late before…"  
"Neither have we, dumbass," Kageyama replied.  
"Mhm…"  
"Hey guys?" Takeda called, the sound loud and grating against their ears. They all flinched, turning to look over at him. "I'm just going to bring some equipment down from storage, okay? We'll be back soon."  
"Got it!" Noya called back. "I'll keep an eye on them!"  
"Ennoshita is in charge," Takeda replied, as if he hadn't spoken, turning to head out of the gym. Daichi and Suga both followed after him.  
Ennoshita gave a wave of acknowledgement, watching as they left. The gym doors swung shut, and Hinata was just about to start moving across the gym to warm up when a voice broke in.  
"Okay!" Ennoshita said, turning to face them. "Who did Daichi go home with last night?"  
"Huh?"  
A stunned sort of silence falls across the gym. The smack from Noya's bouncing volleyball stops as he catches it, and he tilts his head.  
Hinata tries to think back. His brain is thumping in his head, the headache blocking all complicated thought from getting through. Who did Daichi go home with? He barely even remembered seeing Daichi at all.  
"What do you mean?" Kageyama replied.  
"At the party," he replied, using his hands for emphasis. Hinata appreciated it, since his ability to focus had dripped below the already low average level. "I don't remember who it was. I only remember that he left, and he said he was taking someone else home. Who was it?"  
"Uhhhh-"  
"Wasn't it Michimiya?" Noya asked, tilting his head. "I saw them talking in the kitchen."  
"Was it?" Ennoshita asked, in a voice that indicated they had no memory of that event, either.  
"It might have been Kiyoko," Tsukishima added, watching as Yamaguchi began to fall asleep on his feet. "She was complaining about not having a ride home, since Yachi had gotten sick."  
"Yachi wasn't sick," Narita said, frowning. "I saw her cleaning up after the party."  
"Huh?"  
"So it's either Michimiya or Kiyoko?" Ennoshita said, before frowning. "I don't know... Though come to think of it, I haven't seen Kiyoko all morning."  
"Daichi's here, though," Hinata offered, not really sure what was going on, or why they were discussing it. He just wanted to help.  
"Why does it matter?" Kageyama cut in. "It's not like it's our business anyway."  
"Because!" Tanaka said, but he didn't follow it up with anything, and left the rest of the team to just sort of stare at him. "Because…"  
"Our boy got some action!" Noya said, pumping his fist. "And I wanna know who the lucky lady was!"  
"Do you not have a hangover?" Hinata whined.  
"No, I'm not a loser."  
"And how do you know that's what happened?" Tsukishima said. "Just because you take someone home doesn't automatically mean you get laid… you all know that, right?"  
Tanaka glared at him, and Hinata was surprised to see a genuine level of resentment in his eyes. "Oh, you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?"  
A hint of surprise crossed Tsukishima's face, and Hinata wondered what had transpired between the two, if anything at all. He was also beginning to wonder if it had all transpired in Tanaka's head, based off the level of confusion Tsuki was presenting.  
"Uhm - okay," Tsukishima offered, before saying: "Daichi is a good guy, he could have just gotten whoever it was home and then left."  
"Yeah, because a teenage boy with an opportunity like that doesn't at least try," Narita scoffed.  
"And did you see how good of a mood he's in? He had not suffered the hands of rejection," Noya said, still grinning widely. "And I would know! That boy's got the glow of a good night about him."  
"Right," Kageyama said. "What could you possibly know?"  
Noya flushed, standing up straighter to maximize his short height.  
Despite the great bolstering of all of the students here, who loved to push the idea that they were all players, that they could all get girlfriends if they wanted, the truth was that pretty much everyone standing in the room was a virgin - only about half of them had even had their first kiss.  
Daichi taking someone home - even if nothing had happened - was a big deal to them.  
(And as far as they know, Noya had no reason for this much bravado.)  
"I do, actually!" Noya huffed. "Because while you were all off getting drunk and doing whatever it is you do, I made a move on someone. And it worked!"  
They all raised their eyes.  
Yamaguchi fell asleep and thumped his head into Tsukishima's shoulder, causing the taller boy to shove him away. He woke up with a yelp, stumbling to keep his footing and calling out: "Sorry Tsuki!" and he focused again, though his own voice seemed too loud for him to handle.  
"Anyway, so should we just ask Daichi…?" Kageyama said.  
"Does nobody care?" Noya complained.  
"Nobody believes you, more like!" Tanaka snickered.  
"Well, when Asahi gets here, you can ask him yourself!" Noya huffed, turning and stomping away.  
That, however, did get their attention, and everyone turned to follow as he left in a huff.  
"Noya! What are you talking about?" Ennoshita called. "Did something happen between you and Asahi?"  
"Yes!" he said, turning to face them again. "I- uh…" he flushed slightly, sinking into the ball he still held in his hands. It was easier to be brave when he was soaking in alcohol. Now, sober, just telling his friends seemed impossible. No wonder it had taken him so long to tell Asahi.

_"As-assssahi?" he slurred, stumbling forward into the kitchen to find his familiar best friend pouring himself a glass of water. He'd been mumbling all night about how much he hated hangovers, so it only made sense he'd already be trying to minimize the damage._  
_"Uh?"_  
_"I've been… mhm… do you have a- a minute?" Noya said, leaning against the counter and staring up at the taller boy. "Damn, you're big."_  
_"Oh?"_  
_"I wasn't supposed - that was an inside thought…"_  
_"Oh… Can I help you?"_  
_"Yeah, yeah… sorry…" Noya closed his eyes, feeling his heart constrict in on itself. Okay. He could do this. He could do this. He'd hyped himself up for months waiting for this moment, but now, with liquid courage boiling away in his veins, he had to do it._  
_"Asahi," he said, a little more steadily. "I… really like you."_  
_Asahi blinked, eyes widening slightly in surprise. Noya could tell his poor, anxious friend was struggling to figure out exactly what he was supposed to say, brain riddled with the fear of misunderstanding the situation and responding incorrectly. So he continued on, before he could say anything._  
_"Like I mean, like… I really… really like you… and I'd… I'd like if you'd let me take you on a date."_  
_"A… date? Like me and you on a date?"_  
_"That is… yes that's what I said… Is… oh, god, you're probably not even interested in boys, I sh-should have checked, I-"_  
_Asahi put his hand on Noya's shoulder, a warm and steady feeling that calmed him almost immediately._  
_"I'd like that, Noya," he said, voice warm and dripping in affection despite the alcoholic slur it held. He hadn't expected Asashi to drink at all, but honestly it had been kind of fun to see the taller man let loose a little._  
_"You would- You mean you'll go on a date with me?" Noya said, eyes widening._  
_"Yes," he laughed, nodding. "That's what I said."_  
_Noya broke into a wide grin, then bounced back, leaping up in excitement. "Oh hell- woah!" he stumbled over himself, almost crashing down just to be caught by Asahi's hand, tugging him back to his feet. "Oh…"_  
_"Calm down there," he said, laughing softly. "I don't want you to get hurt, okay?"_  
_"I can't help it! This is awesome! This is the best day ever!"_

"What's everyone talking about?"  
Everyone turned from Noya to see Asahi standing in the door to the gym. He looked… like an absolute wreck. His hair could barely be described as a bun, as most of the hair had missed the hair tie, and dark circles ringed his eyes. Despite his great size, the alcohol had hit him like a truck, and he'd had to drag himself to school. Actually, he'd almost just taken a sick day.  
"God, you're looking at me too loudly," he said, rubbing his eyes as everyone stared.  
Noya grinned, seeing him arrive. Now everyone would give him the attention he deserved. Who cares that Daichi may-or-may-not have gotten a girl home. He had gotten freaking Azumane Asashi to go on a date with him.  
"Asahi-san," Hinata said, empathizing greatly with the look of death in the ace's eyes. "Heard you're going on a big date!"  
Asahi jumped slightly at that, face paling even more than it already had been. "Huh? Who said that? I - uh, I'm not going on any dates!"  
Noya stiffened slightly.  
"What do you mean you're not going on any dates?" he said. "Last night!"  
"Yeah!" Tanaka called. "Someone apparently asked you out last night."  
"Last night…? Oh god," Asahi muttered, putting a hand to his forehead. "I don't remember anything from last night. The only thing I remember is Daichi going home with someone… and… Hinata-"  
"Forget Hinata!" Noya squeaked.  
"Hey-"  
"I should figure out who it was," Asahi said, groaning. "Oh, I feel terrible about it already, I'm gonna have to cancel…"  
Noya swallowed, feeling his skin begin to heat up.  
"Oh, well it's-"  
Noya reached over, clamping a hand down over Hinata's mouth. "Don't assume you know things. Who knows who it was, hmm? You can't even remember who Daichi went home with!"  
Asahi stares at him for a moment, before nodding slightly, and nodding out the door of the gymnasium.  
"I gotta go change, but… I'm not sure if I'll be able to hit anything today… I feel kinda sick."  
"Ahaha," Noya said, giving a forced laugh. "So do I, it's okay."  
Hinata mumbled against his hand, and Noya thought to finally let him go, looking away with a red face.  
"Oh," Asahi said, before he left the room. "And I'm pretty sure I saw Daichi leave with Suga, so… not sure what you're all talking about."  
"Yeah, but you can't even remember your date!" Noya said, voice stiff and tense. "So you don't get an opinion right now."  
Asahi blinked, then turned to shuffle from the room.  
Everyone turned to Noya.  
"Nobody say a word!" he shouted, before turning to stomp off, face red and mood now sour. That good cheer and excitement was gone, and he really was beginning to feel sick. Asahi didn't even remember?  
Noya would have to ask again.  
The first time had damn near killed him!  
"So it's Michimiya, Kiyoko, or Suga?" Ennoshita groaned.  
"Or-Suga-What?" Sugawara said, entering the room.  
They all turned to stare at him as he entered, shortly followed by Daichi, and then Takedo.  
"Oh, nothing," Ennoshita laughed it off. "We're just talking about… setters."  
"Setters?" Suga replied, eyes reflexively flicking over to Kageyama with a slightly competitive glint.  
"Yeah, setters," Ennoshita agreed, turning to look at the others with a look at just screamed for help. "Because…"  
"Because Hinata's in love with one?" Tsukishima offered, his eye arching.  
"Shut up!" Tanaka growled. "You wouldn't know anything about love if it hit you in the face!"  
Tsuki reeled back, that look of confusion crossing his face again. This time it was loud enough that Yamaguchi perked up, seeming confused as well, and looking up at Tsuki with a worried expression. Tsuki just seemed to give up, though, giving a shrug to Yamaguchi in response.  
Hinata, meanwhile, had flushed a shade that rivaled his hair.  
"I- I am not!" he complained, unsure if it was less incriminating to look at his shoes or make eye contact with someone.  
"Yeah, you are," Kageyama scoffed.  
"I am not!" Hinata replied, more firmly, his face only getting hotter. He jerked his eyes up to Kageyama, horror crossing his features. He knows, this couldn't be happening.  
"Yeah, you are!" Kageyama replied, voice rising a little bit in anger, despite the pounding in his head. "That stupid setter from Nekoma you wouldn't shut up about!"  
Silence fell once again, and Hinata tilted his head. He didn't… remember talking about…  
"Kenma?"  
"Yeah, that one!"  
"I… I'm not in love with Kenma…"  
"You sure?" Kageyama scoffed. "You literally told everyone that you had a massive crush on him."  
Hinata blushed brighter, looking away. "I wouldn't have done that."  
"You did."  
"Okay," Takeda said, putting his hands up. "I know you all had a fun party last night, celebrating…?"  
They all blinked, looking around at each other. Nobody seemed to have an answer to that, and Takeda sighed. Typical teenagers, just looking for an excuse to drink.  
"But you all seemed to have gotten your hands into something you shouldn't have."  
They stared.  
"Alcohol! You're all underage, but you're all obviously hungover!"  
"I wasn't drinking," Daichi said.  
"Neither did I," Tsukishima agreed.  
Takeda glared at both of them, very much conveying: This is not the time.  
They stayed quiet.  
"So I'm cancelling practice for today."  
"What?"  
"No!"  
"We can't-"  
"I'm not letting you get yourselves sick trying to do jump floats and spikes because you made a bad choice last night," Takeda finished. "Now pack up, change, and try and stay away through all your classes."  
There was a hesitation, then they all mumbled an acknowledgement, dipping their heads.  
Hinata turned to head out of the gym, Kageyama blowing past him, frustrated even in his movements. He wasn't in love with Kenma… Why was he saying he was in love with Kenma? Why didn't he remember it?  
He caught sight of Noya out of the corner of his eye, face still red, and nose scrunching up. Hinata realized he was trying not to cry, and his heart went out to the other - but he couldn't help but wonder if maybe Noya was the one with the bad memory. Who really knew what happened?  
Daichi followed up behind them, and Hinata was barely capable of worrying about who he had or hadn't taken home when he noticed Tanaka watching Tsuki and Yamaguchi. Tsuki was helping steady the other as they headed out of the gym, and it looked pretty much how it always did when the two were doing anything.  
But the despair and anger in Tanaka's eyes seemed wildly outlandish, but he was clearly upset about something. Even though Tsuki didn't seem to know what it was.  
Hinata sighed.  
What exactly happened last night?


	2. Chapter 2

"Tsuki! Are you coming over tonight? We could watch that new movie you were talking about," Yamaguchi chirped, bouncing along beside his best friend with a bright grin and a cheerful demeanour.  
"The snow monster one or the train one?" Tsukishima replied, tilting his head just enough to look at him.  
"Snow monster. Is that okay?"  
"It's fine. I'm kind of tired, though… And we'll have volleyball practice in the morning…"  
"Oh… That's fine. Maybe another time?"  
"Well I didn't say no. Just let me think about it."  
Tanaka's fingers damn near snapped the chopsticks he was holding as he eavesdropped on the conversation, glaring across the open courtyard to where the friends were sitting. Nishinoya, beside him, didn't say anything, too absorbed in his own bad mood to really worry about what Tanaka was doing.  
Hinata, however, stared at him with concern. "Are you okay? You've been acting… weird, lately."  
"I'm not weird!" Tanaka snapped, tearing his eyes away from Hinata, just in time for the other boy to find where his gaze had been.  
Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were sitting on the ground, eating side by side against the wall of the school, their lunches in their lap. They were talking quietly, Tsuki's face passive and expressionless as always, but giving the smallest hint of a smile whenever the much cheerier Yamaguchi said something he seemed proud of.  
"Stop looking at them! You'll attract attention!" Tanaka scolded. Hinata frowned.  
"But you were just-"  
"I know what I was doing!"  
Hinata decided to drop the argument there and move on.  
"Okay, but why? You've been acting crazy since… well, since that party," Hinata said. "And you keep trying to bite Tsukishima's head off. I know he's not the easiest to get along with, but…"  
"It's…" he groaned, putting his hands in his head. "I don't even know where to start."

_"Heeeeeey, Yamaguchi," Tanaka slurred, watching the brunet shuffle along, hiccuping slightly while he looked for a refill. He actually hadn't expected the first-year to take so quickly to the alcohol. Saeko had bought it for them, not really asking questions, but they'd both expected there'd be several good-two-shoes on the team that wouldn't even touch it._   
_Yamaguchi Tadashi had been one of those people. They'd all written him off as too gentle to worry about him getting drunk._   
_Apparently, that wasn't the case. In fact, it was Tsukishima that was abstaining from anything. When Tanaka had been talking with him and Daichi earlier, he'd offhandedly commented something about 'well someone has to get Tadashi home,' in a tone that suggested Tsuki might've been prepared for the drunkenness._   
_Weird. Maybe he should stop underestimating the first years._   
_Maybe._   
_"What's up?" he added, as Yamaguchi stumbled along laughing. He looked up at him, that special, glazed look in his eye that indicated he was nearly ready to pass out._   
_"Not much, whaddabout you?"_   
_Yamaguchi dropped down onto the couch, hiccuping again before laughing some more, apparently finding himself incredibly funny._   
_"I'm alright. Better than some people here, bunch of lightweights you're all."_   
_He found this funny, and Tanaka earned another round of laughter._   
_"You should see Suga," Yamaguchi said._   
_"Oh, I have."_   
_"He's a mess. You seem to be holding up alright, though."_   
_"I wanted to stay a little sober, try and impress Kiyoko with my dancing, y'know," he said, half teasingly. Truthfully, he'd barely even seen Kiyoko since the party had started. He was wondering if she'd already gone home._   
_"You really, really like her, huh?" Yamaguchi said, before hiccuping again._   
_"I do."_   
_A pleasant silence fell, broken only by Yamaguchi's hiccuping laughter as he told himself jokes in his head. Tanaka realized he didn't really know the guy. At least, not as well as he knew Hinata and Kageyama and Tsukishima. Yamaguchi was always so quiet, and now, he didn't have anything to say._   
_"What about you?" he said, eventually._   
_"What about me what?"_   
_"Have your eye on anyone? Bitten by the lovebug yet?"_   
_Yamaguchi found this expression hilarious, as he seemed to be finding everything, which meant Tanaka had to wait for an answer. After a moment of thinking about it, he replied with:_   
_"Promise to keep a secret?"_   
_"Sure, man. Whatever." Tanaka wasn't great with secrets, but he did love learning them. And it wasn't like Yamaguchi was going to say he was in love with Asahi or Kiyoko or something that would directly affect his life. Some girl in a math class wasn't going to bother him._   
_"Tsukishima," he said._   
_"Tsukishima what?"_   
_"No!" Yamaguchi laughed, hiccuping again. "I like Tsuki. I always have."_   
_Tanaka raised his eyes, surprise clear written across his face. "Oh, what? Really?"_   
_It made a sort of sense, Tanaka thought. Yamaguchi was always one step behind the taller boy, he was always mimicking what he said and loyally laughed and every single bad joke he made. They were inseparable, best friends… and apparently, for Yamaguchi, maybe a little closer than that._   
_"Oh, that's…"_   
_Did Tanaka care…? Not… not really._   
_"That's great, man. I'm sure I could wingman you, if you'd like," he offered, half teasingly._   
_Yamaguchi laughed again, waving a hand. "No, no," he said. "Don't do that."_   
_"Why not? You two are inseparable, I'm sure he feels the same way."_   
_"Don't worry about it, Tanaka," Yamaguchi assured him, a tired look in his eye as he leaned back against the couch. "It's alright."_   
_Tanaka shook his head, standing up. "Absolutely not!" he said. "You deserve the best! I'm at least gonna find out if he's interested, alright?"_   
_Yamaguchi giggled again, looking quite amused before sort of just shrugging. "Okay…?"_

Hinata stared at him.  
Tanaka stared back.  
"So you're… waiting to wingman Yamaguchi?" he said, unsure exactly what the point of Tanaka's story was. "Or…?"  
"No, not exactly…" Tanaka said, turning his eyes back to where the pair was still eating lunch. Hinata thought it was bizarre to see Tsuki look so calm, the perpetually angry glare in his eyes almost completely relaxed. He sort of understood why Tanaka would want to set them up.  
Maybe Tsuki would stop yelling at him if he had a partner.  
"But… why are you so mean to Tsukishima? I'm sure that won't help…"  
"No - that's-"  
Noya stood up suddenly, mumbling something under his breath.  
"What was that?" Hinata asked, before Noya could walk away.  
"I said I'm going to get some water," he repeated, somewhat more harshly.  
"Oh… alright, see you later?"  
"Whatever."  
Hinata watched him shuffle off, head down and sulking. He felt bad for the guy. Apparently he'd had some bonding moment with Asahi, but had gotten set back by the memory damaging effects of being black-out drunk. That must hurt.  
"Maybe you should wingman Nishinoya, instead of Yamaguchi?" he asked, glancing back at Tanaka.  
He frowned. "No, you… didn't let me finish," he said.  
"Oh, well, by all means-"  
"Just shut up and let me talk."  
Hinata shut his mouth.

_"Hey, Tsukiman," Tanaka slurred, coming up behind him to hang off the taller man's arm, grinning slightly at the way he glared back at him. "You're not drinking? Not enjoying the party?"_   
_"Someone has to be sober," he replied. "Not that you'd know anything about that."_   
_"Oh, pssssh," he scoffed, waving a hand and stumbling as Tsukishima pushed him off._   
_"Did you need something, or are you here just to irritate me?"_   
_"No, no, just feeling kinda bad for ya, y'know?" Tanaka said, putting his hands in his pockets as he straightened up. "You're so…"_   
_Tsukishima stared at him._   
_"...Independant. And you're not even drinking! How are you supposed to loosen up and make friends standing in the corner like this?"_   
_"I'm not looking to make friends."_   
_"Sourpuss. Everyone wants friends, because friends can turn into a little something more than friends, ya feel me, man?"_   
_Tsukishima's lip curled slightly, and he took a step back. "I'm sorry Tanaka, but I'm not interested."_   
_"Huh?" Tanaka replied, blinking in confusion for a moment before he scowled. "First of all, you'd be lucky to have me, don't get ahead of yourself. And secondly, that's not what I was going to say!"_   
_Tsukishima rolled his eyes, turning away._   
_"I just want to set you up with someone. Let me help you get out of your comfort-"_   
_"You know I'm already dating someone, right?"_   
_Time seemed to stop. Tanaka froze, mouth slightly open, staring at where Tsuki was swirling orange juice around in his cup. Silence had never been so deafening, though perhaps that was just the roaring music and cheering from the crowd._   
_"Okay nevermind," Tanaka said, spinning around with wide, almost concerned eyes. How the hell did Mr. Asshole Tsukishima get a date? He was the last person on the team that Tanaka would have ever expected to be in a relationship. Especially considering Tanaka had never seen him do anything even slightly romantic, or even friendly!_   
_Oh no-_   
_Yamaguchi._   
_Tanaka felt his heart break for the guy. He'd told him point blank that he was in love with Tsuki, yet the other was already in a relationship! What was Tanaka supposed to do? Tsuki must know about Yamaguchi's crush, right? He had to, they were nearly inseparable, it didn't make sense for him to not know… and Yamaguchi had to know that Tsuki was already in a relationship - oh, that's why he hadn't made a move! That's why he didn't want a wingman!_   
_Tanaka pressed his hands to his head, groaning._   
_Yamaguchi must be heartbroken! All the time! His best friend, the person he's in love with, taken already!_   
_"Yamaguchi I am so sorry- oh-"_   
_Yamaguchi was laid out on the couch, snoring loudly in a drunken stupor._

"Ooooooh," Hinata said, slowly. "That… oh my… Tsukishima is dating someone?"  
"He is!" Tanaka agreed, sounding absolutely distraught. "I do not remember much from that night, but I distinctly remember that. That bitch, of all people, managed to find a partner. He doesn't deserve it! And poor Yamaguchi-"  
"That's really rough…" Hinata agreed slowly, nodding. "I can't imagine being in love with someone that's taken…"  
Tanaka sighed, slumping down. "I feel so bad. I said I'd be his wingman, but… Does Tsukishima know? Does he know that he's breaking Yamaguchi's heart?"  
Hinata hummed, thinking this question over.  
"Hey, didn't you say Tsukishima hadn't been drinking?"  
"What?"  
Tanaka was staring at him, and Hinata realized that he hadn't come up with an answer to Tanaka's actual worry, but had tangented back into a different subject.  
"You said… Tsuki wasn't drinking, right?"  
"Yeah…?"  
"So maybe he remembers who Daichi went home with. Weren't we all trying to figure that out earlier?"  
"Oh, right!" Tanaka said, looking a little more alert now. "I'll ask him, maybe he'll be able to put one of our answers to rest. At this point, with Nishinoya and Yamaguchi… god I hope Daichi got laid. One of us needs a win."  
Hinata laughed softly, standing up. "Well, you'll have to wait to ask."  
"Huh?"  
Hinata pointed over to the wall where Tsukishima and Yamaguchi had been sitting. The wall that was now empty.  
"Ah, damn, they got away."  
"Next time," Hinata laughed. "I'll see you at practice, okay?"  
"Okay!"

***

"Sawamura?"  
Daichi lifted his head, smiling as he saw Michimiya slipping into the seat next to him.  
"Oh, hey Michimiya. What's up?"  
"I just… wanted to say thank you, for getting me home from the party a few nights ago," she said, voice soft and pleasant. "I… hadn't anticipated drinking so much, or that it would hit me so hard… I don't know what would have happened, if you hadn't been there."  
He laughed softly, lifting a hand to the back of his head bashfully. "Oh, don't worry about it. You would have done the same for me, I'm sure."  
She laughed softly, because he was cute, but shook her head. "It wouldn't have been the same, y'know? I didn't know half the guys at that party, if you hadn't suggested coming home with you, I might not have."  
He blinked, the bashful look disappearing. "Oh…"  
"But, thank you, again, that's all I wanted to say…"  
"Any time," Daichi replied. "You know you can call me if you ever need anything, right?"  
"Right."  
The silence that fell over the pair was comfortable, as Daichi went back to eating his lunch, but it was shortly interrupted by Sugawara, calling out a greeting and settling down on Daichi's other side.  
"Hey!" he said. "Why is Noya lurking in the doorway like that?"  
Daichi frowned, lifting his head and turning back to the front door, just in time to see the short second-year zip back around the corner, as if trying to hide.  
"I… don't know…"  
Michimiya frowned as well, before saying: "You know, he was there when I came in, too."  
"That's not like him, hiding. If he needed something, he'd tell us, right?" Daichi asked, looking over to Suga.  
Suga offered him a smile, nodding a confirmation. "I'm sure he's just upset about what happened with Asahi had the party. He's probably looking for him. Or avoiding him."  
"That sounds right," Daichi agreed, sighing softly. "Poor guy… I can't imagine it…"  
He looked back over to Suga, who was still smiling at him, and only redoubled his efforts when he noticed Daichi smiling back. He felt his heart give an extra loud thump in his chest, as conversation of the night of the party came swarming back to him. Daichi and Suga had existed in a state of limbo for almost a year up until that point. Both of them had agreed that the label boyfriend had felt a bit off, a bit not them, but…  
Well, he'd gotten lucky that his parents had been away on business that night, hadn't he?  
"Oh!" Michimiya piped up, right as Daichi was working up the nerve to reach to put a hand on Suga's leg. "I should thank you too, Suga."  
"Oh? What for?"  
"Walking me home with Daichi," she said.  
"Did I?"  
"You were pretty drunk," she teased. "But yeah. You two were heading out and saw me struggling to get it together. You let me tag along and detoured to my house, remember?"  
Suga flushed slightly, giving her a smile. "I only remember what happened once we got back to Daichi's, sorry. I'm glad you got home safe, though."  
Daichi stiffened, face flushing red at Suga's words, but Michimiya found it hilarious, breaking into giggles and nodding as she stood up. "Alright, you two," she said, patting Daichi on the head, who was still trying to recover his composure. "See you around, okay?"  
"Bye!" Suga called, before focusing back on Daichi with a smile. He lifted a hand to poke his cheek. "Come on, Dai-kun," he cooed. "Stop with that stupid face, I wanna see your dimples."  
Daichi jumped, reflexively whacking at Suga's hands. "Hey! Stop that-"  
Suga laughed, finding this reaction funny, and letting it fuel him as he continued to poke along Daichi's face, taunting him and asking for a smile.  
Nishinoya, meanwhile, had already rushed straight back to the other second-years to report that Daichi had taken Michimiya home last night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you're enjoying the story! Please remember to leave a comment if you like it, I always enjoy getting feedback and making my writing better! Plus, it's always nice to hear what people think :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Daisuga centric chapter because I was feeling self-indulgent. Thank you for the lovely kudos and comments the community here is wonderful <3 
> 
> Also I think I got the formatting better... I can not figure out if indentation is possible, so we're stuck with this for now.

_It was entirely and completely and infuriatingly unfair, Sugawara thought to himself, staring across the party at his best friend and borderline boyfriend, that he was not allowed to swoop across the room and take Daichi in his arms at this very second. The energetic captain hadn't been drinking, sure, but he was still somehow the life of the party, dancing and swaying with Tanaka and Michimiya and Noya as if he were drunk._

_And Suga was looking at that ear-to-ear grin and his stupid little dimples, and those broad shoulders and arms and thighs and everything about him that just physically pained him not to be touching._

_But, they'd both agreed, that dating, officially, was a bad idea. Not just because it might put unnecessary pressure on Daichi - as captain of the volleyball team - to remain unbiased and focused, but simply because they knew how their friends would react._

_Supportively, perhaps, but like absolute monsters. He could practically hear them now, taunting and jeering and mocking them for even the tiniest PDA._

_What happens when two people mutually agree that they_ would _be boyfriends, it's just not a good time?_

_They become boyfriends. Just because they decided to not explicitly refer to it as that doesn't mean they hadn't shared a tender first kiss, pledges of monogamy, assurances of affection, and all the little things that made Suga's heart spin. And he knew Daichi wanted that lavel. Suga wanted that label. Mutual wanting of label equals label._

_What it did mean, however, was that Suga was not allowed to make out with Daichi on the couch like two second-years were currently doing beside him. Suga glared at them, hating them, despite not really knowing them. How dare they flaunt their success in his face._

_Secrets, Suga decided, were absolute trash and he hated them. But if Daichi thought it were for the greater good, he'd trust him. For now._

_"Suga-san!" the squealing interrupted his resentful thoughts, and he barely managed to turn his head quick enough to catch Hinata as he came crashing down into him, tugging on him eagerly. "Come on! Come on! Come on!"_

_"What?" Suga stammered back, getting shaken by the collar by the energetic, short ginger. "What is it?"_

_"Kageyama has a volleyball!"_

_"That's- huh?"_

_"Out in the backyard, we're playing volleyball! Come on! Come on! Come on! Come-"_

_"Okay! Okay!" Suga laughed, pushing himself up to his feet and forcing Hinata off of him. He was surprisingly forceful for someone who's cheeks and noses were flushed with drunkenness. Suga himself swayed on his feet, and considering the precision needed to set a volleyball - or hit it at all, in any way - he couldn't see this game going well._

_Doesn't mean it wouldn't be fun._

_Hinata was dragging him off, bumping past drunk, stumbling people in a haze._

_As they were making their way through the loud, crowded party, of which Suga could not remember the actual purpose, someone caught their attention._

_"Hey! Where are you taking him?"_

_Both Hinata and Suga turned at the voice, finding Daichi approaching through the dark of the room. Suga smiled, glancing at Hinata as he swayed on his feet._

_"Volleyball," Hinata said, proudly. "We're gonna go play volleyball. Hey! You should come play volleyball with us too, Captain! It'll be awesome!"_

_Daichi seemed amused by this, and Suga could guess why - as the only sober person at this party, he was probably going to wildly outpace everyone else. But, hey, as long as everyone is having fun._

_"Of course," he said, before beckoning them off._

_The "volleyball" game was set up lazily with some chairs and rocks, anything to make a makeshift middle line to serve as a net. Suga stepped onto the grass with slight confusion, struggling to remember exactly where he was and what they were celebrating. Whose house was this…_

_"Catch-"_

_The warning came too late, and the volleyball smacked cleanly into Suga's head with a thud. He caught it as it fell off him, his whole world spinning slightly as he heard everyone else laughing._

_"My bad, Suga-san…" Kageyama called back, awkwardly, evidently swaying on his feet and barely present at all. Suga wondered if they were going to be alright in the morning._

_"Alright, let's get this show on the road!" Hinata called, bouncing into his side of the net with Kageyama. Suga followed over to where Daichi was, looking down at the volleyball in his hands. He was probably expected to serve, wasn't he? He wasn't the strongest server on the best of days, but he had to hope that he'd manage to not completely make a fool of himself._

_He looked across at Hinata, who was literally swaying on his feet, but still seemed absolutely fired up, like he always was before a game. He really did treat every game like it was his last chance, huh?_

_Whack!_

_Suga had hit the ball before he'd even really wanted to, having gone with an underhand serve exclusively because he thought if he tried to swing his arm above his head he'd flop over._

_It soared… mostly straight, and both Kageyama and Hinata leapt to receive, cracking into each other and stumbling into a pile on the grass, the ball bouncing along behind them._

_Kageyama was scowling and scolding him, but Hinata just stammered with apologies and got back to his feet, hurrying to collect the ball._

_"Nice serve," Daichi praised, from where he stood, half ready for Hinata's serve and half not paying attention at all._

_Suga laughed, lifting a hand to scratch through his hair. "Not my best work-"_

_"Incoming-"_

_Hinata had hit the ball with as much power as his tiny arm could hold, slamming into it and sending it soaring across the yard towards them. In a regular game, with a regular net, it probably would have smack clean into it, considering how low it was, but for the purposes of this game, they were fine._

_And Daichi leapt to receive it, despite the drunken haze everyone else was in, he still played like the game mattered to him, just like Hinata. Suga could have sworn he moved in slow motion, arms out, legs bending, to just send the ball back over the 'net' in one move. Suga didn't mind, truthfully, his foggy brain was so enraptured by the way Daichi's body moved that if he'd chosen to give the ball to him, it would have just hit the grass._

_Suga swallowed, feeling the heat of his body get shoved down to address another day. He'd been thinking about trying to take things a step further with Daichi for a while. The goodnight kisses they shared after walking each other home had started to become longer, and he'd been feeling Daichi's hand linger for longer than usual on his back, and his stupid teenage boy brain was beginning to drive him insane with it's issessant demands._

_"Oh, man, that's actually impressive," Daichi said, snapping Suga from his reverie. He looked across the 'court' to see Kageyama manage, despite his drunkenness, to leap up and set the ball almost accurately back to Hinata._

_"That's less impressive," Suga replied with a small hiccup, watching Hinata leap up and swing to spike the ball, completely missing it. Both dumbasses, however, cheered and whooped as if Hinata had spiked it successfully and scored a point._

_"They don't even realize it's bounced off to the side there," Daichi mused._

_"Hey, Daichi?"_

_"Mhmm?"_

_Suga swallowed, watching as Hinata realized where the ball had gone and rushed over to grab it. He shuffled over to his not-boyfriend, using the brief moment of the ensuing blame-game of why the spike failed as a free moment._

_"I was thinking we could ditch this party a little early?" Suga murmured, making sure to keep his voice low even though he knew they weren't being listened to. He reached out to draw his hand gently up Daichi's arm. "Your parents are away, right…?"_

_Daichi's eyes immediately widened, and Suga could see the red colour flushing across his cheeks. He swallowed, then nodded quickly, before looking back to the fake volleyball game._

_"I wish you'd said that before we agreed to a game."_

_"Let's hurry up and finish it, then."  
_ _  
_ _  
_"Tanaka!"

Tanaka looked up from his feet, scanning around to track down the source of the shout - Nishinoya. He was hurtling down the street towards him at breakneck pace, eyes wild and arms up. Tanaka was glad, slightly, to see at least some kind of excitement back in his eyes. He'd been having a rough few days, with the Asahi business. Although… 

Tanaka glanced beside him, to where Asahi was walking, also turning to watch Noya come racing down the street. 

"Noya!" Tanaka greeted, hoping he sounded normal. Already worried about Yamaguchi, he could barely screw his head on straight about this whole Asahi-memory-issue thing. He hoped he sounded normal, but he couldn't be sure. 

"Hey Noya," Asahi chimed in. There was a moment - dear god, Tanaka could _feel_ that moment - where Noya looked up to him with eyes that _screamed_ hope that Asahi would suddenly remember what had happened. But after a heartbeat of silence he shook his head and realized it wasn't going to happen, so he tried to focus on what he was going to say. 

"Uhm - yeah, okay, okay, so I was spying on Daichi, right-"

"What?"

"Spying on Daichi."

"Proceed."

"And _Michimiya_ came over to him, all fluttering eyelashes and cute smiles and started _thanking_ him for getting her _home_ the night of the party… I didn't hear all of it, but she was _oh so thankful_ for him, y'know?"

"Oh my _god!_ " Tanaka replied, eyes lighting up. "Oh, holy shit! Daichi, getting it on with the girl's volleyball captain. We all shoulda seen it coming, shouldn't we?"

Noya laughed, nodding. 

"I didn't think they liked each other like that," Asahi said, lifting a hand to scratch the back of his head. 

Noya rolled his eyes. "We don't trust what you think anymore."

"Hey!"

"And it makes perfect sense!" Noya said. "They've known each other, like, for _ever_ , they're both so responsible, and leaders, and she's actually kinda cute, y'know?" 

"I'm so proud of him," Tanaka said, wiping a fake tear from his eye. "This is incredible. I'm pissed off that he beat me to it, but I can't be mad at his triumph."

Asahi flushed slightly, not 100% sure they should be talking so candidly about one of their best friend's love life. 

"Well, maybe we should ask him, before we assume-"

"Of course, of course," Noya said, before footsteps distracted him and he looked over his shoulder to find Sugawara heading down the path. He perked up, bouncing on his toes and waving him over. 

Suga smiled and waved back, grinning to him as he picked up his steps. 

"Yo, Suga-san!" Tanaka called, voice boisterous and loud as always. "Did you hear? Daichi got some action!" 

An almost visible shudder runs through Suga, and his eyes widen in horror. "Huh? What? What are you talking about?"

"Daichi and Michimiya!" Tanaka went on. 

"Oh my god," Asahi groans, hiding his face in his hands. 

"Yeah, I mean, we're gonna have to find out exactly how far he got, y'know, but I'm putting money on all the way. Our boy's a man now."

The laugh Suga gives is pained and forced, and he beckons back towards the school. "Oh, sorry, bad timing, I totally - I gotta go grab my bag-"

"You're carrying your-"

"My… other bag… But yeah congrats to Daichi that's probably really exciting maybe don't both him and - and- Michimiya about that if they haven't told anyone than they're probably not trying to spread it around too much y'know they probably don't want people talking so many don't talk about that don't spread that rumour around please-"

"Oh my god," Asahi replied, but now he was concerned. 

Suga gave a bright smile despite his breathlessness. 

"Please don't go around telling everyone that," he repeated, slightly more calmly. "Or I will absolutely wreck you."

Noya swallowed. 

"So I may have already told Ennoshita and Narita…"

Suga looked like he was aging on the spot. 

"Also I brought it up with Kiyoko…"

"At least they're all part of the club…?" Asahi offered. 

"Oh, and like, everyone in my science class," Noya finished. 

Suga swallowed, then turned and headed the other way. Oh, dear god… False information on false information. 

"Y'know," Asahi said, slowly, heading off after him. He'd been friends with Sugawara a long time. And watching him walk away in a very specific frustrated silence rang all sorts of alarm bells. Plus, he'd been a third wheel for a while. Though neither Suga nor Daichi had ever indicated a relationship beyond friendship, Asahi had always thought he wouldn't have been _surprised_. Maybe it had always been one sided. Maybe Suga was really hurt knowing Daichi had a girlfriend. "I'm gonna go with him, see if he's feeling alright…"

"Oh - alright," Tanaka said, watching Asahi jog off to catch up with Sugawara. 

Noya and Tanaka watched them go, before exchanging a glance. 

They both turned slowly, heading down the path towards the crossroads they'd part at. Tanaka thought about what Hinata had said about wingmanning Noya, and Noya thought about Asahi. 

"So," Tanaka said after a moment. "Did you… have you… asked…"

"No," Noya muttered, before he could even get around to posing his question properly. 

Tanaka nodded for a moment, before saying: "Uh… not that I think it's easy, or anything, but if he already said yes once, why would he say no the next time? You should just go for it…"

Noya swallowed, and Tanaka could see the stress written across his face. "It wasn't… it wasn't just me asking him out, that he's forgotten."

"Oh?"  
  


_The detour to drop Michimiya off had only set him back by about ten minutes, but it had felt like forever as he led Suga back to his house, hand in hand and swaying slightly in the cold, dark air. It had built his excitement up even more than it was already at. He'd been surprised by Suga's tone, his suggestion, and simply how brazen he was. Their tentative not-relationship had always felt just that, but this…_

_They'd never even talked about it before. And Daichi was nervous as hell, frantically trying to remember everything he knew. Which, admittedly, amounted to very little. It's okay, he assured himself, more nervous that he ever had been before a competition or game. You got this._

_And then they'd been in his dark house._

_And then they'd been kissing._

_And it was everything Daichi had ever thought he could want in the world. Suga tasted slightly like alcohol, as they kissed and tangled together first on the couch, then on his bed. He was warm, and soft, and giggled in the most beautiful way as he clumsily pulled his own shirt off._

_Compliments were thrown, hands felt up skin, and wandered to places neither had dared touch, until…_

_He could tell how tired, Suga was. How absolutely black out drunk he was, how uninhibited he was. And Daichi loved him. He loved being this close, feeling his lips kiss messy, wet spots across his jaw. He put it on his list to make out with Suga a lot more, since he didn't even think they'd done that properly before tonight._

_"Suga-"_

_Suga grumbles a complaint as Daichi pulls away, sitting up slightly. The other boy flops back into the bed, eyes half closed and groaning softly._

_"What?" Suga mumbled, barely focused._

_Daichi wants this more than anything, he decides, and the next sober chance he has, he's making a move._

_But not like this._

_Suga's too drunk, too out of it. Daichi has no idea if Suga actually wants this, or just had one two many drinks and got bored._

_So he rolls off of him and thumps to the bed. "Let's get some sleep," he mumbled._

_"Huh?"_

_And Daichi pulls him in close, tucking him into warm and protective arms. Almost immediately, the disappointment Suga's drunken brain feels is replaced by happiness and sleepiness, and he's asleep within minutes._

_He closes his eyes as well, knowing his not-not-boyfriend would be suffering in the morning, and wondering how much of this he'd even remember._


	4. Chapter 4

The smack of the volleyball against skin echoed out as the receiver caught the ball. It zips through the air, it flies up - Kenma sets it, a dull and bored look in his eyes. Despite that, the set is true and perfect, and as Kuroo leaps up, he slams his hand into it with all the fury he'd use in a real match, and watches with intense satisfaction as Yaku dives to catch it and misses. 

The sound of the volleyball against the ground is like music, and he grins, clenching his fist in satisfaction. 

"Nice kill," someone calls, and Kuroo grinned back, stepping away from Kenma to high five and congratulate his half of the team on their play-match. It was just Nekoma versus Nekoma, but it still felt good to win. 

And he knew Kenma didn't exactly volunteer verbal applause. He might occasional make some weird video-game comment like "you levelled up" or "that earned a lot of exp," but Kuroo wasn't really sure how to take those. Even after all these years, his friend's strange way of relating to the world had remained just slightly outside his reach. 

Kuroo wasn't unused to strange views of the world - after all, his own bias towards science lended a tilt to his vision. Everything was chemistry and physics and geometry. For Kenma, it was… pixels and data. 

Another high-five, then another. Then-

"Ah-hahahah," Lev is laughing, and everyone turns to look at him as he looks at his phone. The laughter only grew more. 

"What is it?" Yaku asked, putting his hands on his hips. 

Lev continues to laugh, then turns to point across at Kenma. 

"Someone's got a boyfriend!" 

Silence falls across the gym, and Kenma turns slowly to look behind him, as if curious as to who Lev was attempting to point at. 

"I think he means you," Kuroo said, moving over to the shorter guy and leaning an arm on him. "Keeping something from us, are you?"

Kenma's eyes were big, the pupils just small pinpoints, and he looked up at Kuroo with a horrified expression. Well that answered that question. 

"What the hell are you on about, Lev?" Kuroo called, keeping an arm draped over Kenma's shoulders as he looked back to the other. He could feel him practically shaking under his arm, a combination of embarrassment and tiredness from the match. Kenma didn't like eyes on him, and now everyone was laser focused on him.

"That little orange guy, from Karasuno?" Lev said, blinking across at him. 

"H-hinata?" Kenma asked, voice soft, barely a whisper. 

"Yeah, that's the guy," Lev replied. "He's - well… Akaashi says Bokuto's friend went to a party the Karasuno team attended. Apparently he was going on and on and on about how great you are, and how much he admires you, and that he's in love with you." 

Kenma blinked. 

Kuroo blinked. 

Yaku lifted a hand to scratch his head. 

"Why?" Kenma said after a moment, feeling redness slowly blush over his cheeks. "Why was he saying that. He hasn't said anything to me."

Kuroo looked around, at everyone looking at them, at Kenma, at him. He suddenly understood why Kenma hated the eyes so much. They left like predators, judgements. 

"I'm going to kill him," Kuroo said. 

"Huh?" Kenma tilts his head to look up at him. "Like in volleyball?"

"No, like with a knife," Kuroo replied, looking back down at him. He lifted a hand up to brush his fingers across Kenma's forehead, hand gently brushing long hair out of his eyes and behind his ears. He face was still red, but his eyes softened slightly as he looked at him.

"You don't have to do that. It's a crush, it's nothing serious," Kenma replied. "Whatever…"

"Whatever?" Kuroo said, voice rising. He could hear one of the guys snickering. He wished he was holding a volleyball so he could smack it into whoever's face was making that sound. 

He did  _ not _ need the team laughing at him right now. 

So he was a  _ little _ protective of his Kenma. Whatever. Kenma was small, and passive, and Kuroo was worried if just anyone got their hands on him, he'd be taken advantage off. 

That was  _ all _ . 

"Akaashi sais Bokuto says his friend at the party says Hinata was saying they were soulmates and destined to be together," Lev called. 

"Oh, yeah, he's dead," Kuroo said, hand tightening on Kenma's shoulder. 

"It's okay… I'm not in love with him, nothing will happen," he murmured. "I feel bad for the guy…"

"Yeah," Yaku said, glaring across at Kuroo. "Having your private crushes broadcast like this must be pretty embarrassing."

Kuroo scowled back. Don't try and make him pity the guy. 

"How many people do you think know about this?" Kenma said, sinking back a bit. "Do you think it's a big deal?"

"Well," Kuroo thought about it, but before he could come up with a suitable answer, Lev said: 

"Well, Bokuto, right?"

"Bokuto."

"So we can already confirm that everyone in his contacts knows, and I'm pretty sure he's friends with that crazy Tendou guy, so…"

"Oh," Kenma murmured. 

"Yeah, everyone knows," Kuroo said, scowling deeper. 

"I feel bad for Hinata…"

"Well, he was the one who got drunk and declared you'd be together forever, so…" Lev said, shrugging slightly as he put his phone away. 

"Everyone… all our friends, all our competitors…" Kuroo paled slightly just thinking about it. They all knew Hinata was in love with Kenma. His Kenma. 

Maybe they'd think Kenma loved him back. 

There might be dozens, if not hundreds of people as it spread by word of mouth, who'd take this information as gospel and never question it.  _ Did you hear, that crazy first year with the quick attack has a boyfriend on a different team! _

The game of telephone could be deadly. 

And not one of them would have a solid reason to question it. 

Kuroo felt that green, twisting snake coiling in his stomach, and he felt Kenma shift slightly as he squeezed his shoulder tighter. 

_ It would be alright. It didn't matter what anyone else thought. Kenma wasn't in love with him. Kenma wasn't in love with him. Kenma wasn't in love with him _ . 

At some point, the  _ him _ in that sentence started to blur. 

Kuroo pulled away. "Let's just move on. It doesn't matter."

"Right," a chorus echoed back to him, and they all leapt to get back to practice, wary of the glower in their Captain's eyes. 

  
  


_ Noya couldn't believe he'd actually gotten a date with the guy he'd had a crush on for the past year of his life. And it had been so simple! Asahi hadn't even hesitated!  _

_ Feeling like he was floating on air, the party was suddenly the best day of his life. Asahi hadn't left his side since his confession, and they hung on the outskirts of the party and alternated water and coolers and beer in equal measure, drunkenness only spiralling.  _

_ "I wanna dance!" Noya said eventually. "I'm tired of just lurking in the corner! Aren't you drunk enough to not be shy yet?"  _

_ Asahi chuckled softly, swaying as he ran a hand through his hair. His fingers got tangled in his bun, and his brain didn't seem to know what to do with that, so he kept his hand there for a bit as he spoke.  _

_ "Well, if I'm with you, it won't be that scary…" _

_ Noya broke into a ear-to-ear grin, nodding enthusiastically. He reached and took Asahi's free hand as he figured out how to get his hand out of his hair, tugging him onto the floor. He held his hand delicately, both of his small hands holding one of Asahi's big, warm ones. He'd always wanted to hold his hand. Maybe they'd get to do more of that now.  _

_ He imagined how nice it would be when it snowed, Asahi's warm smile, and his hands holding his. Or walking through the courtyard at school…  _

_ He felt his back bump into someone, and turned around in surprise to see Daichi, who had fully wrapped up in dancing with a handful of guys and girls Noya didn't even recognize.  _

_ "Oh!' Daichi!" Noya laughed. "Didn't see ya, sorry!"  _

_ "It's cool!" he replied, before glancing up at Asahi. He gave half a smile and patted Noya's shoulder. "You two can take my- hey- Hinata's stealing Suga, I don't trust those two alone I'll be back-" _

_ And he had pushed off between them, cutting through the crowd to catch up. Asahi laughed softly.  _

_ "He's not even drinking," Asahi sighed. "And he still looks like he's having more fun than anyone else." _

_ "I mean, I'd be having fun too if I got to watch all my friends make dumbasses out of themselves." _

_ Asahi laughed again, then perked up slightly as the music changed. Noya could feel his heart just sort of burst with adoration as his big, usually-anxious almost-boyfriend seemed to shake off the anxiety that always plagued him, settling into the dancing grove with a grin. Noya took his hand to bounce to the beat of the song, settling happily into the rhythm with him.  _

_ "You should let your hair down," Noya called after a moment, swaying with the music. Asahi blinked at him, then pointed at himself. "Yes, you!"  _

_ "Are you sure?" _

_ "Yes! Come on, man! It's a party, let loose!"  _

_ Asahi nodded, lifting a hand up to tug the hair tie off, letting it settle around his wrist as his long hair piled down around his shoulders.  _

_ "Woooooo!" Noya called, sticking his arms up. "Hell yeah, party-Asahi-san is here!"  _

_ Asahi laughed, grin bright and innocent and lovely and Noya felt himself overwhelmed with joy for the umpteenth time that night.  _

_ "You're sort of my hero, y'know?" Asahi said after a moment, only slightly swaying with the music now.  _

_ "Huh? Me?" _

_ "Yeah - you're so… confident. You're so sure of yourself, everything you do, it always looks intentional, even if it backfires… it's impressive. I wish I was more like that." _

_ Noya blinked rapidly for a moment, feeling heat warm his face. "Asahi, you're awesome too! You're smart, and dependable, and so kind! Also you look so cool when you leap to spike, or dig a ball out…" _

_ He chuckled. "I just wish I could be more like you." _

_ "You can!" Noya laughed. "I don't own exclusive rights to confidence! If you wanna be more impulsive, go for it! Who's gonna stop you? Certainly not me! Maybe Daichi, but I'm sure you could fight 'em-" _

_ Halfway through Noya's attempt at a pep talk, he'd succeeded. Drunk-Asahi took his advice to heart, immediately. Be more impulsive.  _

_ And now Asahi had bent down, one hand up to Noya's chin to tilt his head up, and lips pressed tenderly together, warm and tasting of alcohol. Noya didn't think he could breath. The hand on his chin was gentle, but driving him crazy in a way he couldn't have predicted. His lips were surprisingly soft, and he immediately missed them when Asahi half pulled away.  _

_ "Oh, Asahi-" _

_ And then he was being kissed again, and Noya absolutely couldn't complain when Asahi's free hand pulled him in by the waist and he pushed more firmly into the kiss, confidence seeming to seep from every inch of the supposedly anxious guy.  _

_ Alcohol was magic.  _

_ And Noya was in love.  _

  
  


"Oh  _ shit! _ " Tanaka said, then immediately clamped a hand over his mouth. He looked back over his shoulder, where Asahi and Suga were just points in the distance now. "You guys, like…  _ really _ got it on, huh?"

"It was just a kiss!" Noya said, hurriedly. "I swear, just a kiss. Or two. Or… four… possibly more my memory gets foggy there… But- he doesn't remember! He doesn't remember any of it! If he remembered  _ making out with me _ , you'd think he'd have  _ said something, _ right?"

Tanaka thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, the dude's clueless. We walked like ten minutes without you and the only thing he talked about was how he wasn't sure if he should buy new shoes, or wait. Wait for what, he never got around to telling."

Noya groaned, pressing his hands over his eyes. "And even if, even if it were just that. Just the forgotten date, just the forgotten kisses, I might have been able to make a joke out of it and ask him again, but…"

"But…?"

Noya was quiet for a moment, before mumbling: "I think it was his first kiss."  
"...So?"

"It's Asahi!" he whined. "He probably wanted it to be super romantic, or at least not drunk at a party -  _ or at least remember it _ . What am I supposed to do? Tell him he lost his first kiss and he can't ever remember it?"

"It's really not  _ that _ big of a deal," Tanaka said. 

"But it is to  _ him _ ," Noya said, stressing the word. "You don't know him like I do. He's… not… callous, about all of the romance stuff, he really, really cares. And I can't bear the thought of telling him what happened and devastating him."

"So why can't you just… ask him out again, take him on a date, kiss him, pretend that's the first kiss, and just never bring it up again? Take that shit to your grave."

Noya swallowed. "I… considered that."

"Might be your best best."

"I just… Starting a relationship off on such a big secret? Lying about our first kiss, lying about how we got together… I don't know… seems…"

Tanaka chuckled softly. "Seems like Asahi isn't the only one who cares about all this stuff, huh?"

Noya looked away, adjusting his bag over his shoulder and rolling his eyes. "I didn't think I did," he muttered. "Until it was Asahi."

Tanaka couldn't help but smile a little bit, and stepped forward to drape an arm across his shoulders. "You'll be okay, buddy. I promise that."

"Thanks…"

"But you gotta tell him. You absolutely have to. Otherwise you're gonna get a stress ulcer or something."

Noya laughed softly. "I know… I've had a headache all day…"

\---

"Daichi!" 

Suga shouting his name and barreling in through the doors to the gym as he finished putting his phone away was exactly the opposite of what he was expecting. He turned in surprise. 

Suga looked alarmed, but Asahi was following in behind him, looking more sympathetic than anything else. What the hell was going on? 

He stared at Suga for a moment, before the other started with:

"Just so you know, there's a bit of a rumour going around…" 

"Oh, the Hinata thing?" Daichi said. 

There was silence, and Suga straightened up. 

"Okay, you do your thing first."

"Yeah, so apparently I'm on Tendou's mass text list, which is  _ weird _ because I did  _ not _ give him my phone number…" Daichi started, turning to face the two other third years fully. "But apparently words have been spread about our little giant's crush on Kozume Kenma, from Nekoma."

"Oh," Asahi said, unsure what else he could say. 

"What does that mean?"

"Humiliation," Asahi replied, wrapping his arms around himself. "I would die."

"We know," Suga replied. 

"It doesn't mean anything," Daichi replied, before his phone beeped, alerting to an incoming message. He glanced down to it. It beeped again. Then again. 

"You should check that," Suga said. 

Daichi didn't want to. He was slightly scared, actually, but swallowed his nerves and reached to see what the message read. He read it once, then again. Then as another message came it, he read that one three times. 

"Well it looks like Kuroo is planning a murder. He's giving us a heads up," he replied. 

" _ What? _ "

Daichi looked back to them. "Kuroo Tetsurou, Nekoma's captain. He just sent me a message. Apparently he wants to  _ fight _ Hinata, over this."

"That's crazy!" Asahi said, panic rising in his voice. "That's absolutely crazy! He can't fight Hinata over a crush on a boy that's insane!"

"I know," Daichi replied, before another message came in and he very tiredly looked down at it. "But he seems dead serious. Apparently if Hinata doesn't agree to stand down he's gonna have a serious problem."

"You don't think he'd like  _ actually _ kill Hinata, right?" Asahi said. 

"Honestly I'm not ruling that out," Suga said. 

"It'll be  _ fine _ ," Daichi said. "I'll pass his number along to Hinata and get him to call him and sort this out. Love is tricky, right? And when people are on different pages, it gets messy. But it'll get figured out."

The two least qualified boys in the world right now nodded in return as if they fully understood that sentiment. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a nonsense chapter lmao. I hope you're all still enjoying it! I meant this to be a ~3 chapter story but things got out of hand, but it should be wrapped up the next chapter! You've all been so lovely and I'm so thankful for all the support. Please don't be afraid to leave comments, they make my whole day :)

"Iwa….?" Oikawa calls, from where he's lounging quite happily across the chairs in their school's library, phone in his hand. Iwaizumi swears that he did not actually intend to spend his free period, that just happened to be Oikawa's free period, reading beside the guy. But that is what happened, and he's within range of Oikawa's foot as he kicked at him to get his attention. "Iwa-san! I'm talking to you!"

"I know," Iwai replied, a slight sort of groan in his voice. However Oikawa had managed to weasel his way into best-friend status was beyond him. Absolutely beyond him. 

"Why aren't we invited to awesome rager parties?" Oikawa said. "The Karasuno team has been the only thing anyone is talking about!"

"We weren't invited," he replied. "That's okay - what are they talking about?"

"Did you not get Tendou's texts?"

"No? I blocked that number immediately. You didn't?"

"He's funny!"

"That's highly debatable - well, what did he say, then?"

"Hinata and Kenma are apparently dating," Oikawa said. "Can you believe that?  _ Hinata and Kenma _ ."

"I definitely thought Kenma and Kuroo were dating," Iwai replied, tilting his head slightly. "Are you sure?"

"Well that's that Tendou says Bokuto says Bokuto's friend says," Oikawa replied, as if this were a completely trustworthy game of telephone. 

Iwai squints slightly, thinking that train of thought through. "That's a lot of people for information to pass through - and what do you mean Bokuto's friend - how do you know he's not just making stuff up for drama?"

"Oh," Oikawa said. "Right, someone else gets a boyfriend and suddenly it's all made up for drama, right?"

"...what?"

"Well you are  _ not _ going to like the fact that Sawamura Daichi lost his virginity," Oikawa replied, stiffly. 

"...again, what? Why is - who - what is Tendou saying?"

Iwai sat up, reaching to try and snatch Oikawa's phone from him and see what he was reading for himself. The setter shook his head, pushing himself up as well and stretching to keep his phone out of Iwaizumi's hands. 

"No! If you wanna have access to the drama, unblock Tendou's number!" 

"Absolutely not! Last time I had him unblocked he just kept spamming me with selfies he took during practice."

Oikawa stopped, tilting his head. "Why… why was he doing that?"

"Hell if I know! I told him to stop like a thousand times."

"Oh, yeah, well you can't tell Tendou to  _ stop _ , that's a rookie mistake, Iwa-san."

"Whatever! Now what the hell is going on with Karasuno?" 

Oikawa huffed, settling down and looking down at his phone. "Oh, my!" he said. "Hah! Tendou says Bokuto says Kuroo went off to confront Hinata."

"What? So he  _ is _ dating Kenma, then? Is Kenma cheating on him?" 

"Unblock the number and get the updates for yourself! I have a feeling this is about to get good!

\--

"You know," Ushijima said, looking down at Tendou as he hurriedly tapped out messages on his phone. "At this point, you're probably just making stuff up. You can't possibly be getting that much new information."

"And you'd be wrong!" Tendou laughed, rolling over to look up at Ushijima, splayed out across his lap. "Kuroo is heading to Karasuno High School right now."  
"He's what?"

"Yeah!" 

"What did you do?"

"Why do you assume I've done something?"

Ushijima just sort of looked at him, as if that was a stupid question to ask. 

"Look I'm just keeping the volleyball circuit in the loop, it's my job, as a member of this wonderful community, to make sure everyone is always on the same page."

Ushijima hummed, then reached to grab his phone as he heard it ding off. The gossip train was coming full circle. 

\--

"Akaashi!" Bokuto shouts, swinging his way into the room. "Did you hear? Kuroo's gonna go find Hinata Shoyo, from Karasuno!" 

The gym is mostly empty, and Akaashi and one of the second years were just finishing up sweeping the floor clean. He looked up as he came dancing in, eyes wild and excited. 

"You know what," Akaashi said, slowly. "As much as I hate to say it, I actually did hear that. What's up with that? I never got the full story."

"I don't know either. Tsuki was texting me the whole night of the party saying shit had gotten  _ way _ out of hand. Apparently lots of people ended up kissing and Daichi got laid and Hinata's in love with Kozume Kenma, from Nekoma."

Akaashi frowned. " _ Tsukishima _ Tsuki?" 

"Yeah, he was-"

"Why was  _ Tsukishima _ texting you? Last I checked he didn't even like you."

Bokuto pouted slightly, somewhat offended by the insinuation that his friend didn't actually like him. 

"Well that's rude."

"I mean…"

"But I don't  _ know _ why anyone does anything? Do I look like a psychiatrist? No! I just know that Kuroo's gonna kill the shrimpy. And I'd love to-"

"We are  _ not _ going to go watch."

"...Fine."

\--

"Why were you telling Bokuto all those things," Yamaguchi asked, following his taller friend down the street and up towards their school. The sun was just beginning to warm the air, and dew was burning off the grass. It was a lovely morning, made lovelier by the daily walk to school. He kept one hand loosely wrapped around Tsukishima's arm as they walked.

"Everyone was so drunk," Tsukishima said. "It was boring. And then the next day, when shit blew up with Asahi and Noya, and Daichi, and then this business with Hinata - it's too funny, 'dashi."    
Yamaguchi smiled slightly, before saying: "You're a bit of an asshole, you know."

"I know."

"So do you actually know what happened? Or have you just repeated what you've heard?"

Tsukishima thought about his answer for a moment, before looking down at Yamaguchi. 

"A little bit of both. I saw Daichi leave with both Michimiya and Suga, so I'm pretty sure he was just being the designated driver he was supposed to be. It's funny watching everyone scramble around like he's some kind of sex god because of one supposed night, though, so I let it continue. Plus, he looks  _ so _ uncomfortable, all the time, now." 

Yamaguchi laughed softly, nodding. "What about the rest?"   
"Noya's on his own for Asahi, I don't remember any of that. But… the Hinata thing… that actually happened. As far as I remember, he was actually running around praising Kenma and saying how much he loved him. During that volleyball game they did - if you can even call it a game."

"That  _ actually happened? _ " Yamaguchi squeaked, eyes widening. "I thought everyone made that bit up!" 

"No," Tsukishima said, shrugging. "The guy's in love with Kenma - at least, that's what he said. It's weird that he's so insistent now, but…" 

"Cats out of the bag," Yamaguchi agreed, before stopping at the last corner to their school. Tsuki stopped, turning to look at him.

"Is something wrong?" Tsuki asked. Yamaguchi shook his head, and just stared expectantly back at him with big, faux-innocent eyes. 

Tsukishima sometimes got tired of all the whispers and jokes.  _ Your boyfriend is so innocent, he's so lovely! He doesn't deserve to be with someone as mean as you. _ Yeah, right. Yamaguchi kept  _ him _ on his toes, half the time. He was just  _ cute _ , so it was harder to believe that the other had said some pretty witty jokes at their teammate's expense. 

"You want a kiss, don't you?"  
Yamaguchi nodded, then lifted a hand up to point at his lips. "Right here, please."

Tsuki laughed softly, stepping forward to lean down and comply, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. It didn't linger long, just a peck before school - it would be horribly embarrassing to be caught doing anything more than that. 

But Yamaguchi smiled, ear to ear. "Thank you, Tsuki."

"Shut up, Tadashi," he muttered, turning away to trudge up the final few meters to their school. Yamaguchi happily followed behind him.

The gym was already lit up, the sound of a volleyball smacking off skin reaching their ear, sneakers scuffing up the gym floor, shouts of energy. God, everyone was so energetic this early. 

They popped their head into the gym. 

"Hey!" 

Tsuki looked up at Daichi, who waved in greeting. "Hurry up and get changed! You're late!'

"I know," Tsuki called. "We're coming."

Yamaguchi waved energetically in greeting, before both turned and disappeared towards the club room. 

"Heads up, lover boy!" 

The warning comes significantly too late for anything to happen, and the spike that Tanaka sent absolutely slammed into Daichi's head, knocking him off balance and forcing him to stumble back a few steps, dizziness written across his face.

"Sorry."

"You're not sorry," Suga snickered, patting Tanaka's back. 

"Not really, that was-"

"Don't aim for my face!" Daichi shouted, interrupting them. "And quit it with that nickname!" 

Tanaka just sort of stuck his tongue out, then turned away to collect the volleyball, and set up again. Daichi grumbled under his breath, but focus was taken off his now slightly headachy-head as he turned to look at a new rising argument. 

"I told you to stop saying that!" Hinata was shouting. "Stop it!"

"No! Just admit that you're in love with Kenma!" Kageyama replied, voice raised to the same pitch but surely ready to rise higher. 

"I'm not!"

"You  _ are! _ "

"Why does it matter to you anyway? I just want to move on!" 

"Because you think he's a better setter than me!" Kageyama growled. "You think you two make a better match, but  _ we're _ teammates!" 

"We  _ are _ teammates!"

"Then why are you in love with him?"  
"That doesn't even make sense!"

"Boys!" Daichi called, putting his hands on his hips. "Is this going to continue to be a problem? Why can't you both just move on?"

"Well it's easy for you to say!" Hinata complained. "The rumour  _ you _ got just makes you look awesome!" 

Daichi stared at him for a moment, then sighed and turned away, patting Suga on the shoulder. "I tried," he said. "Your turn."

Suga chuckled softly, then said: "I think Daichi just means that this can't possibly be serious enough to tear our teamwork apart, right? I mean, you're both still  _ you _ ."

Kageyama huffs, crossing his arms. "It's hard to believe that he even wants to play on our team, what, with the glorious, perfect Kenma at a different school."

"What is your  _ problem? _ " Hinata wailed. 

Suga stared at them, then looked around to see if Asahi was there for him to pass the responsibility of calming this down onto. 

Instead, everyone was once more interrupted by pounding feet outside, then the gym door slammed open. 

Kuroo Tetsurou burst through the door, face red and breath coming in deep, hurried panting. Everyone spun around to face the sudden interruption, eyes wide. 

"Kuroo?" Daichi said. 

"Did you _run_ here? From Tokyo?" Noya squeaked, eyes going wide.  
"Yeah, I ran here from Tokyo," Kuroo growled, sarcasm dripping from his words. 

"Wow! That-"

"No! You dumbass!" Kuroo interrupts. "I ran here from the bus stop,  _ obviously _ ."

"Not to be that guy, but - why?" Asahi said, slowly moving up behind Noya, almost as if trying to hide behind the much tinier person. "Are you - oh."

"Oh my god he's here to fight Hinata," Suga said, a sort of resignation in his voice. 

"Fight Hinata?" Kageyama said, surprise in his voice as he glanced between Kuroo and Hinata. Kuroo started forward, cracking his knuckles. 

"I thought you said you called him!" Daichi said, eyes wide, moving forward to put himself between the tiny Hinata and the very upset Kuroo. 

"I did! I… well… okay I may have forgotten but I totally meant to!" 

"You're not actually gonna hurt anyone, right Kuroo?" Asahi said, waving his hands as if this were all a big joke. "It's great to see you, maybe we could talk this out?"

"I just want that shrimp of a human being to explain himself," Kuroo growled, pointing across at Hinata, who's face had gone pale. "The amount of shit I've had to put up with hearing about him and Kenma is ridiculous. Kenma is humiliated, half the high school students in the country have this pointless rumour going around, and I can't have a conversation anymore without someone asking me questions about it. I wasn't going to come down here, but this is too damn much."

Daichi grabbed Kuroo's hand, forcing it down. "I think we all need to take a moment to calm down," he said. 

"No. No. Not until Hinata explains himself." 

"He doesn't have to explain anything to you!" Kageyama called, stomping forward to stand beside Daichi as if he had even half of the presence of the two captains - though the glare in his eye could cut just as well as anything else. "You're acting like a psychopath. This is psychopath behaviour."

"Who's side are you on?" Tanaka called. "Three minutes ago you were ready to ship Hinata off to Nekoma."

"He was what?" Kuroo called. 

"No -  _ No _ ," Daichi said, firmly. "Everyone needs to shut up, because it's getting to the point where everything anyone says is absolute nonsense. Let's let Hinata talk."

All eyes turned to the red-head. His face was pale, and he felt sick. Absolutely nauseous, actually. The same way he felt before a game. He wrapped his arms around his waist. 

"I don't remember," he said, weakly.

Daichi stared at him.

"Well shit."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also I wanna apologize for Kuroo's characterization?? He was not supposed to be some sort of crazy possessive freak. Or... I guess for the purposes of this fanfiction he is. But I'd like to acknowledge that I know that's not accurate to the canon.


	6. Chapter 6

"Okay, you all look ridiculous," Tsukishima said, interrupting the tension in the room with his typically cold voice. "And Kuroo, really?  _ Really?  _ You couldn't even wait until the weekend? You skipped school for this?"

Kuroo scowled at him. "I was tired of waiting."

"Clearly," Tsuki replied, wandering further into the gym, Yamaguchi trailing just slightly behind him. "Alright, everyone, as the only non alcoholic in this room who's brain wasn't focused on getting laid, I'll be glad to enlighten you all about what really happened with Hinata that night."

"Hey-" Daichi started, but Kuroo spoke louder and faster:

"Thank you!" 

"You  _ knew? _ " Tanaka added, disbelief in his voice. 

"Of course I knew," Tsuki chuckled. "It was fun watching you squabble."

"You're awful," Kageyama said, but Tsuki waved him off. 

"Anyway-"

_ The 'volleyball' game was going excellent, in Hinata's drunk mind. They leapt, and spiked, and even though he sort of knew that none of his spikes were technically clearing the height of a regulation volleyball net, it was still more fun than he'd ever had.  _

_ He lined himself up for the next shot, then took a running start. He watched Kageyama stretch, slowly and precisely. Even though the setter was just as drunk as he was by this point, everything about him was still talent and calculation, a cold sort of determination that only Kageyama Tobio could contain. Hinata was fully, irreversible and forever in awe of the boy. He was the best volleyball player he knew, to be able to set so perfectly while also so drunk.  _

_ Hinata leapt, and he spiked it down, the ball slamming into the grass and bouncing away from a swaying and only slightly present Sugawara.  _

_ "Take that!" Hinata shouted, too loudly. "Hah! See! We'll getcha every time! I think we won, did we win? Kageyama? Did we win? I think we've won!" _

_ "You won, you won," Daichi conceded, patting a somewhat disappointed looking Suga on the back. Neither of the teams actually knew what the score was, but the energy had come to a natural close with that, and nobody was complaining.  _

_ Hinata fist bumped the air, turning to shout in excitement to Kageyama, who laughed and swayed on his feet.  _

_ It took them a wobbly minute to get the makeshift net line put away and grab the volleyball, before they were stumbling back inside. Hinata scooted past Noya and Asahi in the process of reentering the house - curiously, the two were very much more wrapped up in kissing each other than anything else.  _

_ Kageyama pointed to them as they passed. "That's weird," he said.  _

_ "That is weird," Hinata replied.  _

_ "Is that new?" _

_ "That might also be new." _

_ "We'll worry about it tomorrow." _

_ Hinata nodded an agreement and shuffled off, leaving the pair to their own business. He wiggled his way through the crowd, passing Yamaguchi passed out on the couch and almost making it to the kitchen before Tanaka was barrelling towards him, a drunk flush across his face and a very irritated Tsuki in tow.  _

_ "Hinata! Kageyama! Perfect!" Tanaka shouted, tugging Tsuki to a stop, who was grumbling and trying to free his shirt from Tanaka's iron grip. It seemed nearly impossible, unless he wanted to strip his shirt off, which he really didn't want to do.  _

_ "Perfect?" Hinata replied.  _

_ Tanaka let go of Tsuki, who brushed himself down with a huff. "Run while you ca-mhm-" _

_ Tanaka pressed a hand over Tsuki's mouth.  _

_ "Okay, Hinata, I'm just trying to prove a point to my pal Tsukishima here, you know him, right?" _

_ "Yes, I'm familiar with him." _

_ "Okay, okay… so… say you were Tsukishima, and you were Tsukishima in Tsukishima's life, who do you think you would want to be romantically engaged with?"  _

_ "...what?" _

_ Tsuki rolled his eyes, then tugged Tanaka's hand off him. "He's being insane. He won't shut up about this - for the last time-" _

_ Tanaka smacked at him to silence him, then looked back to Hinata.  _

_ "So? Like who do you think someone should want to be in a relationship with. Preferably someone good at serving, kinda tall… right? Like what's the perfect guy?" _

_ Hinata's drunk mind sort of processed the word  _ guy _ , and thought that was a weird choice, but thought about it.  _

_ Actually, what he thought about was Kageyama's drunk setting. He thought about the way his hair rose and fell as he jumped, the blue of his eyes, the determined set to his jaw and lips and how much Hinata wished he looked even a quarter as cool as that.  _

_ "I mean, I've always been partial to setters," Hinata said, before he could stop himself or think it through. Kageyama raised his eyes. "They're incredibly intelligent, they're full of passion, and determination, and they support the rest of their team like nobody else… And the setter I know always drives me to be better than I am… he's passionate and ambitious and clever and though lots of people think he's mean, he only ever wants to see everyone succeed and try their best. I don't think I could be half as good as I am without him. I really think I love him. I think I've met someone I can't go the rest of my life without, and sometimes that freaks me out so I try not to think about it." _

_ There was a silence.  _

_ "Who the fuck are you talking about?" Tsuki said after a moment, now far more invested in this conversation.  _

_ Hinata felt panic surge through him, and forced his eyes to stay locked ahead on Tanaka and Tsukishima, instead of glancing back to where Kageyama was drilling holes into the back of his head.  _

_ Oh, he'd screwed up. He screwed up big time. He couldn't just tell them, he couldn't. Kageyama would never speak to him again, never set to him again, he'd probably think he was disgusting or stupid or pathetic and then he'd never get a chance to be his friend, again. He felt his face flush hot. Damn his loose, drunk tongue.  _

_ "Kenma," Hinata said, because the boy wasn't here and it was a reasonable enough lie. Everyone knew him and Kenma had a good rivalry, and he was most of the adjectives Hinata had used… though perhaps slightly less passionate… "Kozume Kenma," he repeated. "From Nekoma…?" _

_ "You're in love with Kozume Kenma?" Tanaka said, eyes shooting up.  _

_ Hinata swallowed, but there was something so easy about the lie. "I'm in love with Kozume Kenma," he echoed back.  _

I'm in love with Kageyama Tobio.

_ "He's… perfect," he went on. "He always sees the best of what I can be, and he's… handsome as hell." _

_"Kozume Kenma."_ _  
__"Kenma, yes."_

_ Hinata found this easier as they spoke. All he had to do to sell the lie was talk about Kageyama and replace the name.  _

_ "Well this absolutely did not go in the direction I was looking for," Tanaka said, slight pain in his voice.  _

_ "Can I leave, now?" Tsukishima replied.  _

_ Hinata chuckled softly, face still red as he looked away in embarrassment. Well, that had been rough. Hopefully everyone would just forget about it by morning, drunk as they were.  _

_ When he glanced behind him, Kageyama was gone.  _

"How helpful," Daichi said. "You remember everything, but what you remember is exactly what Kuroo said had happened."

Kuroo looked back to Hinata, shaking his head. "What is wrong with you," he said. "You barely know the guy! You've spoken like six times, it's not fair of you to say you're destined to be together, or whatever!"

"Well he technically never said  _ that _ ," Tsukishima chirped. "He had the right energy, but I may have embellished for Bokuto."

Kuroo groaned, putting his hands over his eyes. 

Hinata was frozen to the floor. Everyone was looking at him. 

"Oh, god…" he said, slowly. "I… I remember all that, now… I… I did say that, didn't I…"

Kuroo stared at him for a moment, then swung his head around. "What is wrong with all of you? Having sex at parties and drinking clearly  _ absurd _ amounts of alcohol? Falling in love with  _ other people's _ best friends that you don't even know and then just lying to people about what happened? You're all disasters!" 

"Kuroo, you literally ran here to confront Hinata about a crush you're not even involved in," Tanaka said. "Just… shut up."

"Clearly we all need to just take a breather," Daichi said, putting his hands out. "Let's figure this one, one thing at a time." 

"I agree," Noya said loudly, then pointed a finger at Daichi. "You lost your virginity to Michimiya, and you're refusing to tell us! Why won't you tell us?"

Daichi stared at him. 

"That didn't happen."  
"I heard her thanking you all sweet and cute like!" 

"I didn't lose my virginity to Michimiya," he replied, more firmly. 

"I don't understand why you refuse to admit it! Every other guy would be bragging to hell and back!"

"Why don't you believe me?" Daichi said. "I didn't-"

"He lost his virginity to me!" Suga shouted, interrupted the conversation with a red face, sick of the bickering back and forth. That certainly shut everyone up. "So let's all move on to the next thing now, got it?"

"Actually no I didn't," Daichi said, awkwardly pointing at Suga. "That didn't happen either."

"That didn't-" Suga's face paled. "Are you saying all that was in my head, or?"

"Wait wait wait wait-" Asahi said, putting a hand over his forehead. 

Kuroo has started trying to back away slowly. 

"You were  _ so _ drunk," Daichi said, sighing. "I thought you remembered this… you were too drunk, it didn't feel right, so we just kinda fell asleep…"

Suga shut his mouth, before Tanaka burst into laughter. "Oh my god," he said. "Suga spent the last two weeks thinking he'd lost his virginity!"

"Shut up!" Sugawara growled, clipping the end of his words. "Shut up about it!" 

"To  _ Daichi? _ " Noya said, seeming somewhat putt off by the thought. 

"Well we can all put that to rest," Daichi said. "Nobody took anyone's virginity, there was no first anything."

Tanaka lit up, then pointed at Noya. "Noya took Asahi's first kiss!" 

"Dude!"

" _ What? _ " Asahi added, much louder than Noya's first exclamation. 

"Oh, shit," Kuroo supplied, stopped from leaving by Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, as they slowly pushed him back into the gym. He'd started this, he was going to be here to finish it. 

Noya turned to him with a panic. "We may have ended up kissing, alright?"

"... _ Why? _ " Asahi said. "Why was that happening, and why don't I remember it, and also why didn't you tell me, and what?"

Noya's face was slowly flushing red, and he turned away. "I was… I knew you'd be upset that you didn't remember it," he said. "I… I was the one who asked you out, Asahi, and you said _yes_ , so… I just… I panicked, okay? When you didn't remember I panicked and tried to forget about it."  
Asahi was quiet, then said: "Dude I asked every girl in my year who I accidentally stood up, I must have looked like a psychopath!" 

Noya snickered softly, turning back to look at him. "Sorry, I tried to tell you you didn't need to worry about it…"

Asahi groaned, putting a hand over his face. "I feel sick…"

"I'm sorry…?"

"It's… uh… It's fine, Noya… it's fine…"

A silence was beginning to fall, before Hinata said, slowly: 

"I'm sorry for saying I was in love with Kenma," he said, keeping his head down and away from everyone. "It was a lie. And I'll tell everyone that it was a lie. Tanaka had cornered me, and I panicked… that's all…"

"Likely story," Kageyama muttered. 

"It's true!" Hinata said. "I was drunk and not thinking right and I needed a name and he was the first person I thought of…"

"Could have thought of my name," Kageyama muttered. "I am your setter, after all…"

"If I had said your name, Kageyama, it would have been the truth," Hinata said, voice set and firm and close to tears. "That's why I picked a  _ lie. _ "

And now silence really had fallen. Kuroo felt awful, and really wished he could just sprint right back to that bus stop. Suga had receded all the way across the gym, head in his hands, and Daichi had closed his eyes. Asahi was just looking up at the ceiling, but Noya was looking at him, wishing they were a little more alone so he could ask a decently important question. And Kageyama looked at Hinata, who wasn't looking back at him, with absolutely nothing in his head but surprise, a bit of anxiety, and the tiniest seed of happiness. 

"Wait!" Tanaka shouted, breaking the silence. He swung around and pointed at Tsukishima. "Who the  _ hell _ are you dating, then?"

Tsuki stared at him, then pointed at Yamaguchi. "Tadashi," he said. "That wasn't - that wasn't a secret."

Tanaka stared at him, eyes wide. Another beat passed in silence. 

"Did… did nobody know we were dating?" Tsukishima said, beckoning between him and Yamaguchi. 

"Yeah we've been dating since like seventh grade," Yamaguchi replied. "I really thought you all would have picked up on that."

"Oh my god," Kuroo said, looking between them all. "That's four relationships. Your whole freaking team is a relationship disaster. You all suck. You're crazy." 

"Kuroo why don't you go home," Daichi said, waving him off. 

"Thank god," Kuroo replied, turning to speed walk out of there. 

"All that leaves," Tanaka said slowly, scratching his chin. "Is the mystery of what the hell we were actually celebrating-"

The gym door slammed opened, making Kuroo squeak as he leapt back, almost hit by it. 

"My birthday!" Yachi shouted. "And you all ruined the party!" 

\---

"Asahi?" Noya said, voice far too soft for his usual tone. 

Asahi stopped walking, turning back to look at him. "Oh, Nishi… hey… how's it… going?"

"You've been weird, around me," he said. "You've been really weird, I wanted to know if you were uncomfortable, knowing we'd-"

And then Asahi was kissing him again, hands on his cheeks, chin tilted up, and Noya sank happily down into it, relief flooding his senses as Asahi pulled away. 

"I'd like that date I promised you, if you don't mind," he said, quietly. 

"I would like that too," Noya said, a smile growing on his face. "And screw you, for scaring me into thinking you hated me."

"I was just building up the courage to do that," he said. 

"Well don't take eight hours every time you want to kiss me, okay?"

"I'm not making any promises."

\---

Suga was happy to lay with Daichi's head on his chest, some stupid movie neither of them cared about playing on the TV. He ran his hands through short, dark hair and let his eyes grow heavier, until they closed. 

Truth be told, he was relieved. As much as he wanted to be closer with Daichi, as much as he wanted to have that experience… this way, he'd remember it clearly, whenever it happened. (Hopefully not while aggressively drunk and irrationally horny.)

\---

"You haven't… made fun of me, or yelled at me, or called me a dumbass," Hinata said, softly, after everyone else had left. Kageyama kept tossing the ball up, then spiking it against the wall and letting it rebound back. The sound was familiar, and comforting. But it had been days, and Kageyama had barely looked at him. 

"I know," he said. 

Hinata nodded slowly. "I'm… sorry… I know it wasn't exactly in the plan for me to… uhm…  _ like _ you, like this… but… I'll try not to let it change anything, okay?" 

Kageyama didn't reply, continuing to bounce the ball. Hinata sighed, then slowly turned to head across the gym and pack up. He hoped, at least, they'd still be able to be teammates. 

"Hey, dumbass," Kageyama called, before he could get more than a few steps away. Hinata heard the ball stop as Kageyama caught it, turning back to look at him. "I'm not… I'm not upset."

"You're… not?"

"I'm not. I'm not… I'm not going to pretend I'm… experienced, with emotions like this, and I don't want to leave you on, but… It…. hurt, thinking you were in love with Kenma. And… I'm glad you're in love with me."

Hinata swallowed. "Only  _ you _ could make something sweet sound narcissistic."

"Shut up and let me talk."

Hinata shut his mouth. 

"If you're…. Willing… to be patient, which I know you struggle to do… I would… maybe… like to  _ try _ … going out. Once. Maybe twice."

Hinata's eyes widened slightly. 

"Really?"

"Yes, really, dumbass," Kageyama growled, turning away again. "But don't make it weird. Just because I can't see myself with anyone else but you doesn't mean I  _ like _ you, or anything…"

Hinata broke into a grin. "Noted…"

\---

"You could have saved everyone a ton of heartbreak, you know," Yamaguchi murmured, happily curled up beside Tsuki as he flipped through the book he was reading. "You could have really saved some anxiety, too."

"This was more fun," he murmured, looking over to him and folding the book closed over his thumb. "And besides, I think it actually worked out for the better. Plus, we got to see Kuroo looking so horribly uncomfortable as literally everyone confessed their love for one another."

Yamaguchi grinned, laughing in the process. "That's true! Suga and Daichi, huh? I kinda suspected the other guys, but that one caught me by surprise."

"Me too, actually," Tsuki agreed. "I actually did think he'd hooked up with Michimiya."

"Well, even the great Tsuki has to be wrong sometimes," Yamaguchi said, before puckering his lips slightly. 

"What's that look for?"

"Kiss," he said, before lifting a hand to point at his lips, again. "Here. Please."

"I know what to do," Tsuki chuckled, leaning in to give him a soft, lingering kiss. He pulled back after a moment, then pressed an even softer kiss to Yamaguchi's forehead. "Now let me finish this chapter and we'll go to bed."

Yamaguchi smiled, settling against his arm. "Sounds good. I can't wait for the next party. Who's birthday is next?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the final chapter!! Thank you all for suffering through this horrendous disaster of a concept, but I found it fun for pure fluff and indulgence, so I hope you did too, and didn't take it too seriously! Please leave a comment, they make my day, and I look forward to seeing you all round! Thanks for reading!


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